Third-seeded Wilmington forces decisive game three with
10-7 victory;Ravens crush five homers in 14-2 rain-shortened
win for title in game three;Cavers belts three homers on the
day to earn MVP honors
RINDGE, N.H. (May 15, 2004)
- Top-seeded Franklin Pierce claimed its second ECAC
Division II Baseball Championship over the last three years with a
commanding 14-2 victory in game three of its championship series
with third-seeded Wilmington (Del.) College at Crystal Field this
afternoon. Wilmington forced the third game with a 10-7 triumph in
today's first game.
Franklin Pierce, which claimed its
first ECAC Championship in 2002, rounds out its season with a 32-23
record as its victory today matches the program record for
single-season wins set in 2003. Wilmington, which went 2-2 in this
weekend's tournament, closes out its season with a 22-26 record.
Junior catcher Eric
Cavers (Otisfield, Maine/Oxford Hills) was named the
ECAC Championship Most Valuable Player as he hit a combined .538
(7-13) in the three-game series with Wilmington, scoring seven runs
and adding a double, triple, three home runs, nine RBI and two
stolen bases. This afternoon, Cavers was 5-for-9 with three homers,
five runs scored, nine RBI, a double and a triple.
Franklin Pierce belted five home
runs in its decisive 14-2 victory in today's nightcap, which was
called in the top of the eighth due to strong thunderstorms in the
region. Cavers led the way with a pair of homers to go with a
double, three runs scored, four RBI and a stolen base in a 3-for-4
game.
Freshman Kim Hart
(Gorham, Maine/Gorham) was 2-4 with a homer, double,
two runs scored and three RBI, while classmate Garrett
Olson (Norway, Maine/Oxford Hills) was 2-4 with a
homer, three runs scored and an RBI. Sophomore Randy
Fenton (Worcester, Mass./Doherty) hit 1-2 with a
homer, steal, two runs scored and two RBI.
Junior right-hander
Ryan Bowling (Cedar Springs, Mich./Cedar
Springs) picked up his second win of the ECAC
Championship, allowing two runs, just one earned, scattering ten
hits and a walk with three strikeouts in 7.2 innings of work to
close out the season with a 6-2
mark.
Senior Tom Eller
(Rising Sun, Md./Rising Sun) was the lone Wilmington
batter with multiple hits in the nightcap as he was 2-3 with a
double. Classmate Tom Gallagher (Bear,
Del./Glasgow) was 1-2 with an RBI, as was junior
Rich Ware (Salem, N.J./Woodstown).
Senior left-hander
Kevin Tully (Hockessin, Del./AI DuPont)
suffered the loss, yielding three earned runs on four hits with a
strikeout and no walks in 2.1 innings of work.
Franklin Pierce built up a 3-0 lead
after three innings thanks to solo homers from Olson
(2nd inning), Fenton (3rd) and Cavers
(3rd). The Ravens broke the game open with six over the
fourth and fifth. Senior Jason Bourque (Randolph,
Mass./Kingswood (N.H.) Regional)started the four-run
fourth with an RBI single, followed by a two-run single from
classmate Dante Blancarte (South Berwick,
Maine/Amesbury (Mass.)). In the fifth, Olson led off
with a single, followed by a towering homer by Hart.
Wilmington scored a pair in the
sixth on an RBI single from Ware and a sacrifice fly by Gallagher.
The Ravens added five more in the seventh, capped by a three-run
Cavers home run, his tenth of the season, to left-center.
GAME
TWO: Boxscore &
Play-by-Play
In today's first game (game two of
the series), Wilmington jumped out to a 6-1 lead and withstood a
pair of late Franklin Pierce rallies to post a 10-7 victory and
force a deciding third game.
Senior Jim Murphy
(Newark, Del./Christiana) led the Wildcats as he was
3-for-4 with a double, two runs scored and two RBI. Sophomore
Derek Pugh (New Castle, Del./Christiana)
was 3-3 with two runs scored, while Gallagher hit 1-2 with three
RBI. Junior Joe Class (Rising Sun, Md./Rising
Sun) finished 2-4.
Senior Chris Cannatelli
(Clayton, Del./Smyrna) picked up his fifth win of the
season (5-6) on the mound for Wilmington. He allowed six earned
runs on 12 hits with three strikeouts and a walk in eight-plus
innings of work. Junior Scott Reynolds (Newark,
Del./Christiana) struck out the only batter he faced
to end the game and pick up his second save of the
season.
Cavers led the Ravens by hitting
2-5 with a homer, triple, two runs scored and five RBI. Fenton was
3-4 with two runs scored and an RBI, while freshman
Vinny Pennell (Spencer, Mass./David
Prouty) was 2-4 with two runs scored. Hart finished,
2-4, while sophomore Elliott Shea (Jaffrey,
N.H./Conant) was 2-5.
Freshman Daniel
Fournier (Worcester, Mass./Doherty) suffered the loss
as he allowed four earned runs on four hits and four walks with
four strikeouts in 4.1 innings of work.
Wilmington jumped ahead with a pair
in the second. Class led off with a single and scored on a
fielder's choice, before sophomore Garry Wright
(Newark, Del./St. Mark's) scored on a wild pitch. The
Ravens answered with a single run in the home half with a Fenton
RBI single to center to score Pennell, who singled with two out.
Gallagher's RBI single and a Wright
sacrifice fly gave the Wildcats a 4-1 lead in the fifth. Murphy's
RBI double in the sixth and Eller's run-scoring single in the
seventh put Wilmington up 6-1.
The Ravens rallied with three in
the home-half of the seventh on a three-run Cavers homer to cut the
deficit to 6-4, but the Wildcats scored two in the eighth and ninth
to extend their advantage to 10-4. Franklin Pierce had one more run
left in the bottom of the ninth as Cavers roped a two-run triple
and scored on a wild pitch. The Ravens brought the tying run to the
plate, but Reynolds came on and struck out Pennell to end the game.
GAME
ONE: Boxscore & Play-by-Play
